Maryland

‘I Can't Live in Fear Anymore': Woman Recalls Sex Assault Near University of Maryland

A young woman who was attacked and sexually assaulted inside her apartment near the University of Maryland, College Park is speaking out and says she thinks her attacker is to blame for recent, similar assaults.

"I awoke in my apartment in my bed to a man assaulting me," said the woman, who News4 is calling Mandy. "I thought it might have been my boyfriend at first, then quickly realized it wasn't, and I started to scream, and he fled."

The attack happened in March 2016. At the time, Mandy lived in an apartment near the University of Maryland campus with a fellow student.

Police said her attacker entered the apartment through an unlocked door.

The day after the attack, officers went door-to-door asking neighbors for information, but Mandy's attacker has never been caught.

"It was tough. I had to move immediately out of my building. I quit my job, you know, I was very fearful for a while," she said.

More than a year later, a string of break-ins and sex assaults have been reported on Guilford Road -- just a block away from where Mandy lived when she was assaulted.

"I still get UMd. alerts, so I looked it up online and I saw the other stories, and it happened a block away from where I happened to be living. I just felt angered because I knew it was the same guy," Mandy said.

Prince George's County police are still investigating all of the attacks and have not found evidence connecting the recent cases to Mandy's attack.

But Mandy is hopeful a suspect will be arrested.

"I believe one day he will be held to justice -- regardless if the police do it or karma does it," she said.

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